I was gonna wait til tomorrow to go back to the store and get the parakeets I heard were gonna be available. I knew they had ’em, but they weren’t available to be bought yet because they do a check-up and quarantine of sorts for a week or two to make sure they’re okay and no diseases or cuts or anything during shipment, and it gives them a chance to calm down.

Well, on the off-chance they were ready early, I went in right after work and there were a whole bunch behind the glass.

I already had a male and female, who I called Pickle and Sky. I wondered about issues of different sexes and the like, but since I already had an opposite sex pair, they told me it wouldn’t matter much whether I got two females, two males, or one of each at this point.

I don’t really feel up to having a crash course on babies coming into the world, and my pair don’t seem interested in having eggs together. I actually had a parakeet nesting box attached to the side of their old cage just in case because I didn’t realize I’d gotten a male and a female that day, and they never went in it, so I removed it after a couple of months. Guess they’re just friends.

So if any “action” starts to happen, it’s probably because of the new pair coming in.

The newbies are a mostly-yellow (kinda a dirty yellow) I named Nana (short for Banana) and a mostly dark blue and black striped one named Aqua.

Yeah, and I am noticing a pattern where I was must’ve been thinking about food and earth science when I named them: Aqua, Nana (as in “banana”), Pickle, and Sky.

I had a heck of a time getting the newbies out of the box, I’ll have to say. I put the box in the cage and finished opening it, and figured I’d tilt it on it’s side and they’d just come out. I had to tilt it a bit more to get Aqua out, but Nana was determined to stay in that little box. It wasn’t til I reached my fingers in as if to pet her that she finally jumped out.

I’m just glad I had the presence of mind to lock the dogs up for a few minutes just in case they flew out right at me and ended up leaving the cage and I’d have to go hunt them down and return them to the cage.

That would’ve been a nightmare, but I had coffee ready to go just in case.

There was this interesting meeting going on. Aqua was apart for a while, and then they all seemed to want to be on the same sand perch for a bit. Sky became a bit distant then.

What was funny is about half an hour after their initial meet, Sky was doing most of the chittering on a perch with Pickle while the newbies were grooming each other up top. I tried not to laugh because it sounded almost like a girlfriend scolding her boyfriend for not showing as much love as the other couple they’re watching.

When it came time for bed, just about 15 minutes ago, it occurred to me that the newbies might not be used to total darkness yet. I had the thick blanket over the back and top first, and then a three yard cut of broadcloth to cover the front and a bit of the sides. It’s light enough to let some airflow in and light enough in the sense of color to not make it stiflingly black. But I did want something over the front a bit to make it darker and a bit warmer, because I typically keep the house in the high 70s F most of the day, but knock it down to 70 F at night. The floor vent isn’t that close, really, but an abrupt drop isn’t all that good for the feathered ones.

There was some flying around and chittering like crazy within 5 minutes, which of course startled the dogs and made my blondie try to mess with the cage. I took the cloth off a bit, noticed the birds were okay and just a bit excitable, and then I turned the lights off and put the cover back on, but turned on the light above the stove to at least let a little in through the bottom four or five inches of the cage so it wasn’t total thick darkness.

Pickle and Sky were store-bought birds, too, and seem to like it fine. I think the newbies are just travel-lagged a bit after coming out of the back to the display cage, and then the display cage to my big kahuna all in one day. They just need to adjust, I suppose.

I don’t have anything that works terribly well for the daytime because I want the birds to know there’s a distinct difference between night and day in the house, but because of how skittish and mistrustful Pickle and Sky have been with me (even when in the little cage), I figured I’d get a smaller fleece blanket I had, drape it over some of the top and back to make a canopy of sorts, and secure the leading edge to the top with clothespins. I was sick of the sheet falling off when I tried to give privacy while opening up the house for some light, and they seemed to like it.

I have to work tomorrow, so I’m gonna miss how the morning routine goes. But I’ll be in most of the rest of the day and can see how they get along.